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Leelavati Prize 2014

Adrián Paenza is awarded the Leelavati Prize for his decisive contributions to changing the mind of a whole country about the way it perceives mathematics in daily life, and in particular for his books, his TV programs, and his unique gift of enthusiasm and passion in communicating the beauty and joy of mathematics.

Description in a few paragraphs:
Adri´an Paenza has been the host of the long-running weekly TV program “Cient´?ficos Industria Argentina” (“Scientists Made in Argentina”), currently in its twelfth consecutive season in an open TV channel. Within a beautiful and attractive interface, each program consists of interviews with mathematicians and scientists of very different disciplines, and ends with a mathematical problem, the solution of which is given in the next program.

He has also been the host of the TV program “Alterados por Pi” (“Altered by Pi”), a weekly half-hour show exclusively dedicated to the popularization of mathematics; this show is recorded in front of a live audience in several public schools around the country.

Since 2005, he has written a weekly column about general science, but mainly about mathematics, on the back page of P´agina 12, one of Argentinas three national newspapers. His articles include historical notes, teasers and even proofs of theorems.

He has written eight books dedicated to the popularization of mathematics: five under the name “Matem´atica . . . ¿est´as ah´??” (“Math . . . are you there?”), published by Siglo XXI Editores, which have sold over a million copies. The first of the series, published in September 2005, headed the lists of best sellers for a record of 73 consecutive weeks, and is now in its 22nd edition. The enormous impact and influence of these books has extended throughout Latin America and Spain; they have also been published in Portugal, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Germany; an upcoming edition has been recently translated also into Chinese.

Adrián Paenza

Adrián Paenza is awarded the Leelavati Prize for his decisive contributions to changing the mind of a whole country about the way it perceives mathematics in daily life, and in particular for his books, his TV programs, and his unique gift of enthusiasm and passion in communicating the beauty and joy of mathematics.